An international conference Holzbau Forum Garmisch took place in Germany in the beginning of December. For the delegation of Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster, it was the first time to participate. The program of the conference included among other respectable speakers also presentations by Estonians.

A new pre-fab house factory was opened in Kumna village near Keila by the President of Estonia. According to Estonian capital based company Harmet, their new factory is one of the biggest and most automatic in the region.

An upside-down house was built in Tartu, Estonia year 2017. Q-haus has been involved in this project from the very beginning. Q-haus took care of the engineering design and made sure the whole building could be manufactured indoor using timber element technology. Today we are thrilled to receive the news that the construction of the house is finally approved by the Municipality.

Scientists of Tallinn University of Technology in co-operation with Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, RISE (Swedish research institutes), Swedish Wood, State Real Estate Company and German specialists tested fire resistance of a building built of cross-laminated timber panels on training field of Academy of Security Sciences on November 1st.

As is customary, Estonia was
well-represented at the Bygg Reis Deg construction trade fair. In addition to a
large joint stand, several Estonian companies also had their own separate
stands at the fair.

An international construction fair Bygg Reis Deg, taking place
every two years was held from October 18-21 in Norway. The fair offers
different solutions for homes, large volume buildings and other types of
buildings. Participants include material, tools, energetics producers as well
as real-estate development specialists. Estonian wooden houses producers were
also represented with their booths.

Wooden houses sector was having an annual “Summer
Conference of Friends of Wooden Houses” already for the 6th time in the last
weekend of August. Participants included members of Wooden Houses Association
and Cluster, good partners and other interested people.

Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster and Estonian Woodhouse Association awarded for the third time science papers written on important topics in the field of prefabricated wooden houses. The best papers were chosen by the Board of the Woodhouse Association and the highest prize went to Villu Melk, a student at Estonian University of Life Sciences.

AS Palmako has founded a Norwegian subsidiary, Palmako Norge AS, through which it hopes to make an even bigger mark in Norway with its products and increase its turnover in Scandinavia. The new company represents the latest step in the implementation of the strategic development plan of Palmako’s sales organisation, which is designed to guarantee efficiency in the company’s sales and customer service processes.

Nearly half of Estonia’ s territory is
covered with forest. I am (Sven Mats) pleased to say that in addition to clean air and
untouched nature the Estonian wooden houses industry has provided forest with a
really high value, through wood processing and export.
Read more »

The building industry creates more carbon
than any other and with the building volumes going up as the population of the
world increases rapidly, we need innovation for sustainable living. Estonia has
an unexpected solution: wooden houses.

It
is a duty of every state, company and citizen to think about environmental
impacts in their everyday activities and take responsibility. It can be seen
that the society is moving in the right direction, however it is not always
easy to find balance between environmental and business interests.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster organized the contest of
“Pre-Fab House of the Year” for the 7th time. This year 22 Estonian wooden
houses producers participated with 31 works from Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Finland and
Austria. The overall winner of this year’s contest is a project of terraced
houses in Sweden by Puitpaneel OÜ.

There will not be
any construction of logistics centres or their expansions planned in 2017, the
biggest of its kind built will presumably be Harmet’ s modular house production
unit in Harku county, Kumna village, states the market overview by Uus Maa
real-estate bureau.

Munich
based construction fair BAU that ended last week gave the wooden houses sector
a thorough overview of Europe’s construction sector’s latest trends. The fair
was about architecture and engineering of buildings, introduced new building
technologies, tools, new materials and building components that enable to build
and do interior works on industrial buildings, administrative spaces and
private homes more efficiently.

The slogan of the Estonian company Nordic Houses, which has produced around 2 000 houses in 15 years, is ‘More time for living’. Indeed, there is more time for living when you can have your own wooden house in five weeks from order to delivery.Read more »

For the second
time Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster in co-operation with Estonian Wooden Houses
Association issued awards for scientific research work of pre-fabricated wooden
houses. The awards were presented by Tea Varrak, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Business Relations at Tallinn University
of Technology, on October 18.

Estonia is still the biggest producer of wooden houses in Europe regarding export volume, goal of the sector however is to outperform the main competitors also in production volume in the future.Read more »

A member of Estonian Wooden Houses Association and Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster, EstNor OÜ is building a 1600 m2 office and warehouse building in Sweden. The building is unique because it is entirely made of wood. Read more »

Produced by Nordic Houses and engineered by Trilog
Studio architects, the Nordic Compact modern house solution now also has its
own, unique virtual reality tour. Architectural visualisation studio Downtown
Visuals has created a virtual tour where a future home owner can experience the
interior finish, space and lighting solutions of the house and then order their
virtually ready-made home straight from the factory.

This year the Estonian Woodhouse Association in cooperation with the Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster organised the international contest “Pre-fab House of the Year 2016” for the sixth time, where wooden houses from Norway, Sweden and Estonia built by Estonians participated. Yesterday the world’s tallest wooden house by AS Kodumaja located in Norway received the title of the best wooden house.

The Estonian Woodhouse Association in cooperation with the Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster has published a book that compiles the works submitted to the “Pre-Fab House of the Year” contest; the book provides a thorough overview of Estonian wooden houses both here and abroad.

Kautokeino Home Care Centre is a beautiful example of how the woodhouse Industry can help to make the World a better place. This fine engineered low-Energy building will be home to many elders of the Kautokeino community in the cold and beautiful Finnmark in the extreme northeastern part of Norway.

The objective of the three-day visit that ended on 18th
of September was to take a closer look at the manufacturing of prefab and
modular homes and create contacts with Estonian architects and woodhouse
manufacturers.Read more »

On 14 July, the Estonian Wooden Houses
Cluster set up an exhibition introducing Estonian wooden houses and leading
producers of wooden houses in the most prestigious business and living quarter
of Tallinn.

On 13 June, the fifth International Vocational Competition for Handcrafted Log Home Builders took place under the Räpina Good Homes Days festival, bringing together contestants from Estonia, Finland and Germany.
Read more »

On 2012 Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster organised a successful conference for our members and associates for a first time. This year the fourth Wooden Houses Friends Summer conference will take place on 14.-15. of August at Kopra Turismitalu.
Read more »

2,619
building permits were issued in 2014 which is nearly twice less than a year
before. The decrease of the
issued permits has happened in comparison of all types of building; however,
the smallest drop has occurred as regards the sector of buildings on timber
structure.

The last broadcast of the season of the ETV (The national public television station of Estonia) economic programme Kapital was focused on niche products and markets. Kapital visited one of the log houses in Japan, which has been manufactured in Estonia, and asked one local reseller, why the log houses manufactured in Estonia are so valued in Japan.

The Estonian Woodhouse Association has an annual tradition to recognise a person, who has contributed the most to the joint ventures of the association. This year, the title was unanimously awarded to Mihkel Urmet.

Last week the French public radio channel Radio France Internationale (Rfi) visited different wooden house manufacturers in Estonia and collected material for reporting on the subject of wood industry.Read more »

Estonian web-based architecture
marketplace start-up katus.eu,
in cooperation with prefabricated house builders Nurban and Kodumaja, is
announcing a competition for the design of modern prefabricated houses for
sites in Stavanger, Norway and Ülenurme near Tartu, Estonia.

Estonian
Wooden Houses Cluster (EWHC) arranged a tour to Latvia for wooden houses
manufactures. During the three-day visit Estonians had a possibility to visit local
businesses and create contacts. A seminar on European support actions was held
in cooperation of EWHC and Latvian Wood Construction Cluster.

Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster held a
seminar „A Year in Nearly Zero-Energy Building (nZEB)“ to mark a successful
first year of the Tallinn Technical University (TTU) nZEB pilot project. Initial
research results of the nZEB testhouse were presented and it was discussed on how
to build nearly zero-energy buildings.

Since 2010 Estonian Woodhouse Association (EWA) has awarded people and institutions who have contributed remarkably to the promotion, development or sale of Estonian wooden houses. This year the title “Friend of Estonian Wooden House” was given to the Estonian Open Air Museum in recognition of museum’s outstanding contribution to the preservation and promotion of the Estonian wooden architecture and building traditions.

The title “Friend of Estonian Wooden House 2013” was conferred during the symposium “The past, present and future of Estonian wooden houses.” The symposium was held by EWA at the Estonian Open Air Museum on 22th May. On the same day an exhibition dedicated to EWA’s 15th birthday was opened in the museum. The exhibition “Estonian wooden houses – centuries of experience” will remain open until September 2014.

The symposium and exhibition were supported by European Regional Development Fund through cluster development program of Enterprise Estonia in the frames of "Estonian Wooden Houses Exporters Cluster Project".

According
to Statistics Estonia the exports of wood-based products in 2013 amounted to
1598 million euros, which is 9.9% more than in 2012. The import volume in the
same commodity group was 424 million euros, increasing by 13.6%.

On Thursday, 6th February, Nordic
Houses OÜ, one of the leading exporters of Estonian wooden houses, hosted the
Buen Gruppen AS’ annual Partner meeting in Tallinn. It was 10 partner companies
from Norway who participated in the whole day conference at Nordic Hotel Forum.

Presentation
of technical guideline „Fire safety in timber buildings. Version 3“ recently
translated to Estonian took place on Monday, 27th January in Tallinn University
of Technology. The guideline summarizes the requirements for fire safety in the
design and construction of wooden houses in Nordic and Baltic countries. The
event was organized in cooperation with Tallinn University of Technology,
Estonian Building Centre, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Estonian
Woodhouse Association, Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association and
Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster.

A presentation of technical guideline „Fire
safety in timber buildings. Version 3“ recently translated to Estonian will
take place in Tallinn University of Technology on next Monday, 27th
January. The guideline summarizes the requirements for fire safety in the
design and construction of wooden houses in Nordic and Baltic countries. The
event is organized in cooperation with Tallinn University of Technology,
Estonian Building Centre,SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Estonian Woodhouse Association and
Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster.

With the decision of the Board, three new companies recently
joined Estonian Woodhouse Association: Uuenurga LLC, Q-Haus Baltic OÜ and OÜ
FER Project. Thus, the Association's membership has grown to 34.

Estonian
business newspaper Äripäev ranked local enterprises of timber industry basing
on their economic indicators. Four out of twenty top-companies are also members
of Estonian Woodhouse Association and –Cluster:

On 3rd
of December the seminar on the topic of „How to automate wooden houses produced
in Estonia?“ took place in Meriton Grand Conference&Spa hotel. The seminar
was organized by Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster and Rakvere Smart House
Competence Centre.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster announced fourth annual contest „Pre-Fab House of the Year“ to recognize wooden house professionals using factories to provide high quality and personalized houses.

Exports of wood-based
products is nearly four times higher than imports and both show growth trends compared
to eight months of the year 2012. According to Statistics Estonia the exports
of wood-based products in first eight months of 2013 amounted to 1073 million
euros, which is 11 % more than in the same period of 2012.

The export of nearly 40% to Russia and a growth of
demand in the domestic market increased the sales turnovers of laminated log houses
sales and construction company Finnlamelli Eesti OÜ operating under the brand
Finnlog by a fifth in 2013 compared to the first eight months last year.

Four third-year
students of Tallinn University of Technology Engineering Faculty - Kaie
Tobreluts, Marten Merila, Margus Krasnov and Auno Saare, who started their practice
this spring in Seve Ehituse AS team, have been graded "excellent",
and after graduation have their job insured in Seve team.

TEMPT, in cooperation with wooden house manufacturer Nordic Houses and with the support of Enterprise Estonia, is developing a new series of prefab houses – Nordic Concept 2013. The goal is to find solutions where good architecture, functionality and effective technical details enable the production of good and pretty houses on an affordable price level. This should be the biggest value of prefab timber frame houses.
Read more »

Last summer Estonian Woodhouse Association and
Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster organised a
successful conference
for our members and associates
for a first time. This year Wooden Houses Friends Summer
conference will take place on 23th of August.

Since January 2013 Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster’s new
CEO is Kristiina Rebane. Former CEO Elari Kivisoo is now a head of wooden house
producer Ökoehituse AS and continues being board member of Estonian Woodhouse
Association.

According to the Estonian Environment
Information Center the export of Estonian wooden houses in the first nine months
this year totaled 144 million euros, which is 7 percent more compared with the
same period in 2011.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden
Houses Cluster announced third Annual Contest Pre-Fab House of the Year winner Matek AS their residential housing project in Norway, Sætremade of
prefabricated timber frame structures.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden Houses Cluster
announced third annual contest „Pre-Fab House of the Year“ to recognize wooden
house professionals using factories to provide high quality and personalized
houses.

According to the Estonian Environment Information Centre the export of
Estonian wooden houses in the first six months this year totaled 89,6 million
euros, which is nearly 1,8 percent less compared with the same period in 2011.

The winner of contest
for handcrafted log home builders, organized by the Estonian Woodhouse
Association in 2012 is Ahto Naruski from Saulerman OÜ. Veiko Palm from EstNor OÜ placed second and
third place went to Jüri Võsakovski from Saulerman OÜ.

Estonian Woodhouse
Association organizes contest for handcrafted log home builders on June 9, 2012
in Räpina, South-Estonia. The competition aims to promote knowledge and appreciation of professional
log home builders.

According
to the Estonian Environment Information Center the export of Estonian wooden
houses in first 3 months this year totaled 33,7 million euros, which is two
percent more compared with the same period in 2011.

Estonian Woodhouse Association in cooperation
with Enterprise Estonia offers the possibility of international marketing
internship from 5th April to 7th
October 2012 in the frames of an international horticultural Expo Floriade
2012 (www.floriade.com).

Members of the Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian
Wooden Houses Clusterparticipate in world’s
biggest annual event for sustainable design, construction and the built
environment EcoBuild held in the UK from 20th to 22nd March 2012.

Log homes are warm and environment-friendly buildings that are loved all over the world, especially for many centuries in Nordic countries. In the past quality was one of the main criterions in professional house building process. Nowadays quality still has an important role, however new keywords in building are also absolute support from house producer during the whole project as well as personalized approach to client’s needs.

Estonian Woodhouse
Association in cooperation with Enterprise Estonia offers the possibility of
international marketing internship in Holland in period of 5.04-7.10.2012 in
the frames of an international horticultural expo, Floriade 2012 (www.floriade.com).

Log homes are warm and
environment-friendly buildings
that maintain quality throughout centuries if built in accordance with right constructiontechnologies.
Recently, Estonians who have long term traditions in producing and
exporting log homes adopted the standards of the Estonian Woodhouse Association
for quality log houses.

According to the Estonian Environment
Information Center the export of Estonian wooden houses in the first nine
months this year totaled 132 million euros, which is 24,2 percent more compared
with the same period in 2010.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian Wooden
Houses Cluster announced 2nd Annual Contest Pre-Fab House of the Year winner Kodumaja
AS their residential housing project in Norway, Oslo made of
prefabricated building modules with timber frame structures.

According to Estonian
Woodhouse Association, the turnover of Estonian wooden house producers in 2010
totaled 214 million euros, which is 81 percent more compared with 2009. The turnover of companies in the Association totaled
95,5 million euros.

Estonian Woodhouse Association and Estonian
Wooden Houses Cluster announced second annual contest „Pre-Fab House of the Year“
to recognize wooden house professionals using factories to provide high quality
and personalized houses.

Estonian
wooden house manufacturer Seve Ehituse took part
in Finnish Housing Fair held in Kokkolo from 15th July to 14th August 2011.Estonian Passive House got a lot of positive
feedback and was named as one of the most energy efficient building at the
fair.

According to the Estonian Environment
Information Centre the export of Estonian wooden houses in the first six months
this year totaled 89,8 million euros, which is nearly 42 percent more compared
with the same period in 2010. Read more »